Tuesday Fitness Fix: Bike Crowley’s Ridge

Check here every Tuesday
for a fitness fix rundown. I’ll be on the lookout for running, cycling, tri’s,
adventure races, and other active outlets taking place around the state that I’ll
highlight each week.

A bicycle ride to
raise awareness of a national bikeway that includes the length of Crowley’s
Ridge will make pit stops in many Arkansas towns along the way. The scouting
ride (which is being called Bike Crowley’s Ridge) will take place next
week (April 12-17) and will
include riders from Arkansas and Missouri. The route starts in Cape Girardeau, MO and riders stop when
they arrive in Helena-West Helena six days and 310 miles later.

The ride’s goals
include making frequent stops in towns along the way to meet with city and
county officials. In addition to ten Missouri towns and Jonesboro, riders
will stop in Piggott, McDougal, Lafe, Paragould, Harrisburg, Cherry Valley,
Wynne, Forrest City, Marianna, and state parks all along the route before
arriving in Helena-West Helena on April 17. The route follows the Crowley’s
Ridge National Scenic Byway and riders will analyze the route for safety issues
and amenities like rest stops, restaurants, hotels, and sight seeing spots.

This is a first step
in developing the bikeway as part of the Mississippi River Trail (MRT), which
begins at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota and runs 3,000
miles to the Gulf of Mexico. The bicycle-friendly roads and multi-use
pathways connect 10 states, the cities of Minneapolis, St. Louis, Memphis and
New Orleans, and hundreds of smaller towns along the way. The Missouri/Arkansas
leg of the route will offer bicyclists a connection to the MRT without crossing
the Mississippi River.